Older Persons’ Perceptions concerning Climate Activism and Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Results from a Qualitative Study of Diverse Population Groups of Older Israelis

Liat Ayalon (), Natalie Ulitsa, Hanan AboJabel and Shelly Engdau
Additional contact information
Liat Ayalon: Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
Natalie Ulitsa: Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
Hanan AboJabel: Department for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Shelly Engdau: School of Social Work, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-13

Abstract: Older people are under-represented in the climate change movement yet are highly susceptible to the negative effects of climate change. This study’s objectives were to identify possible barriers faced by older persons to increase their pro-environmental behaviors and participation in the climate movement. Relying on in-depth qualitative interviews and focus groups with 50 older persons from four different population groups in Israel, we identified three themes. The first theme concerned assigning responsibility for the current climate situation. This theme addressed the question of who is seen as responsible for the current situation. The second theme covered actions taken by older persons to address the current situation. Finally, older persons view governments/municipalities, industry, and individuals as responsible for the changing climate, with a more traditional segment of the population also viewing God as responsible. Moreover, although governments were identified as important institutions with relevance to the current climate challenge, respondents mainly acknowledged the relevance of pro-environmental behaviors rather than climate change activism. In conclusion, the findings highlight the need to increase environmental activism among older persons. It is also important to increase the breadth of possible pro-environmental behaviors older persons can engage with.

Keywords: older persons; activism; pro-environmental; barriers; facilitators; responsibility; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16366/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16366/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16366-:d:996428

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().